Has HBO Now hurt HBO’s standing with cable companies?

Almost everyone loves HBO Now, but the group that doesn’t might include cable companies.

Cable networks and cable providers have had their share of issues over the years, but HBO wasn’t necessarily a name you heard much in that regard. The launch of HBO Now might change that.

Why? According to Bloomberg News, it’s because even though streaming is the future, cable is still very much a big part of the present. And right now, HBO wants to make more money from cable providers.

It’s understandable, since the Bloomberg piece explains how HBO didn’t benefit as much as you might think from gaining almost 3 million new subscribers in 2015, since the cable companies made most of the profits from those newcomers.

HBO naturally wants to change things in its next round of negotiations, but there’s a catch, and its name is HBO Now. Even with the network thinking most of its growth for the rest of the decade will come via traditional methods, there’s still the very issue that people can avoid cable altogether and just use the streaming service to watch HBO programming.

That could make the cable providers more willing to dig in and fight for every dime, unless HBO can convince them that the majority of HBO Now subscribers are people who wouldn’t be partaking in the network’s offerings at all. In other words, “in addition to” and not “instead of.”

Is that the truth? Or can HBO at least make its cable partners think that both sides still need each other even as the landscape continues to change?

And will these deals be made to both sides’ satisfaction with the end of Game of Thrones looming and Westworld not guaranteed to be the show to take its place (though we think it’s awesome)?

It’s going to be fascinating to find out.